Vehicle camera peripheral

ABSTRACT

A vehicle camera peripheral. It has a frame having a surface for supporting a license plate, at least one compartment for containing a battery and a circuit board having a wireless transmitter and video transmission circuitry, the compartment provided in the frame and positioned behind the license plate supporting surface, a camera mounted to the frame and connected to the circuit board, and a mounting for connecting the frame to existing license plate fastening devices of a vehicle.

This application claims priority of U.S. provisional patent application62/323,031 filed Apr. 15, 2016, of PCT/CA2016/050710 filed Jun. 17,2016, and of PCT/CA2016/050809 filed on Jul. 11, 2016.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates to a vehicle camera peripheral system,such as a rear view camera for automobiles, trucks or buses. The presentapplication also relates to such peripheral systems that use asmartphone as the video display device.

BACKGROUND

Vehicle cameras are commonly used for viewing an area immediately behinda rear bumper to see what might be behind the vehicle when backing upfor parking. The after-market camera component is typically mounted to alicense plate mounting of the vehicle. Vehicle cameras can also beuseful for school buses to see if a child or object is in front of thebus or near the rear wheels of the bus. Similar uses can exist forsemi-trailers, heavy trucks, snow removal equipment, etc. where thedriver or operator needs improved vision around the vehicle.

Smartphones can have excellent computing capabilities and can be usefulas a user interface for a variety of peripherals or uses. One example isan automotive rear view camera application. A wireless camera can bemounted at a rear of a vehicle to transmit images to a smartphone havinga wireless data interface to provide a display of the images to thedriver. Such cameras are useful for guiding a driver to back up avehicle. Such rear view automotive cameras are typically wired intoelectrical power of the vehicle, this requires a modification thatnormally involves a professional installer. The requirement forprofessional installation can be a disincentive for consumers topurchase vehicle camera peripherals.

When a rear view camera is powered by a vehicle's backup lamp power,then the camera is powered only when a vehicle is in reverse. While thisinvolves a wired installation, this resolves the issue of triggering ofthe camera to operate when needed. Other wired installations have thecamera always transmit the video, while the display device is controlledto be on or off.

When using a smartphone as the display device, the smartphone needs tobe placed in a state in which it is able to run software to display thevideo. In known systems, this involves typically a user selecting theapp and running it in the foreground.

The camera peripheral also needs to be triggered to operate if it isdesired for it to be normally in a low power or off state except whenthe camera needs to be viewed.

With the Google Android® operating system, a program or app can be givenby the user special permission to run in the background, such that whenvideo is transmitted from a camera to the smartphone the latter canrespond by displaying the video. With the current Apple iOS® operatingsystem, an app cannot be given permission to run continuously in thebackground. Furthermore, a background app in iOS cannot use the displayfor presenting the camera video. iOS® devices represent a significantportion of mobile computing devices in use that are suitable to displaycamera video, and thus it is a problem that user input is required withiOS® devices to allow camera video to be displayed when it is time todisplay the video.

SUMMARY

Applicant has developed a number of improvements in a vehicle cameraperipheral that is to be used with a smartphone for displaying thecamera video. In this application, “smartphone” is intended to mean amobile computing device that includes mobile telephones, handheldcomputers and tablet computers.

In one improvement, the vehicle camera peripheral is battery powered sothat installation does not involve wiring and can be easily done by aconsumer. In these embodiments, the camera peripheral may use Bluetoothclassic for wireless transmission of video to the smartphone. BluetoothBLE may be used to communicate with the smartphone, prompting thesmartphone to run an application program to verify if any useractivation input has been registered by or provided to the smartphone.

BLE should be understood herein to mean the current Bluetooth low energystandard, but without limitation thereto, since any suitable Bluetoothor non-Bluetooth wireless protocol can be used.

The BLE component can be powered by the battery continuously while thecamera and video transmission circuitry is only powered when needed. TheBLE component can control power supplied to the camera and videotransmission circuitry. In this improvement, a separate wirelessactivation unit is provided with the vehicle camera peripheral, and thefunction of the activation unit is to send a wireless signal that willcause the BLE component of the vehicle camera peripheral to power up thecamera and video transmission circuitry. The activation unit cantransmit a signal directly to the BLE component of the peripheral, or itcan transmit a signal to the smartphone so that it in turn can transmita signal directly to the BLE component of the peripheral. The activationunit may establish a first wireless connection with the peripheral, andthe peripheral may establish a second distinct wireless connection (e.g.Bluetooth connection) with the smartphone. In some examples, theactivation unit may instead communicate via radio frequency signals withthe peripheral (e.g. over a 915 MHz transmission channel), where theactivation signal may be a radio signal.

The activation unit can be mounted to the vehicle using an adhesivemount, bracket, clip or the like so that a user can trigger the wirelesssignal using a button press. The activation unit can be mounted to avehicle gear shift to detect putting the vehicle into reverse. Theactivation unit can be connected so that it senses the vehicle'spowering of the backup lamps. Such an activation unit can be essentiallya battery powered BLE component that is configured to send a signal whenits button is pressed or it otherwise detects a need for triggering thecamera function. In the case of a transport trailer or school bus, theactivation unit could trigger from different lamps circuits, such asturn signals or passenger door lights.

By providing an activation unit, triggering of the vehicle camera tooperate is made efficient for the operator since it does not involvecalling up an app on the smartphone, and because the vehicle cameraperipheral can have its camera and video transmission functionstriggered by the activation unit, the peripheral can be efficientlypowered using batteries and thus avoid a wired installation.

The activation unit can also comprise an app running in the smartphonethat detects user input. For example, Applicant has found that the appcan read data from a smartphone's proximity sensor indicating a handposition near the proximity sensor, interpreted as a signal to activatethe peripheral. Moreover, Applicant has found that the reading of asmartphone's accelerometer data can detect finger taps against thesmartphone body that can be discriminated from vehicle vibrations andmovements or screen touches.

In the case of an operating system that restricts the ability of an appto run in the background, such as the iOS® operating system, thebackground app can be activated by BLE messages. iOS® allows abackground app to request the operating system to allow it to run when amessage is received from a connected BLE device. The peripheral can thenbe used to send BLE messages on a regular basis to the smartphone sothat the smartphone operating system maintains the background apprunning. The background app can then detect user input and respond to itby sending a message that would cause the camera peripheral to beginoperation.

In the case of an operating system that restricts the ability of an apprunning in the background from displaying video, Applicant has alsodiscovered that a BLE keyboard connection can be used to send keyboardcommands either from the camera peripheral or from an externalactivation unit to the smartphone to cause a video display app to run inthe foreground. While the Android® operating system can allow abackground app to move into the foreground, display video while in thebackground, or to display video on the lock screen of the device, theiOS® operating system requires the smartphone to be unlocked and for theapp providing the video display to be running in the foreground. Suchkeyboard commands can be used to place the smartphone in a state readyto display the video with no or very little user interaction. Forexample, the current iOS® version causes a dialog box to appear torequire user screen touch input when a wireless keyboard commandattempts to change the foreground app. Thus, a single touch by a user onthe screen of the iOS device can allow wireless keyboard commands tocause the smartphone to begin displaying camera video.

Applicant has discovered that a battery powered camera can be poweredoff with only a Bluetooth bridge left active with the viewing devicecontrolling the power state of the camera unit to turn on using userinput from a separate battery-powered activation unit. In the case of avehicle camera, the activation unit is located within the easy controlreach of the driver of the vehicle, and allows the driver to control thevehicle camera while driving.

In some embodiments, a separate activation unit is provided that ispaired with the smartphone for issuing Bluetooth keyboard commands so asto cause the smartphone to go into a desired state. When this activationunit is used with a Bluetooth peripheral, such as a camera, theactivation unit or the smartphone can cause the camera unit to wake upby Bluetooth communication in the case that the camera unit was in asleep mode. The configuration of the Bluetooth keyboard commands in theperipheral device that sends them to the smartphone to cause the desiredapp to be called up can be done using a utility that is part of thedesired app itself that works with the peripheral or using a separateconfiguration app on the same smartphone. Alternatively, a separateprogramming mechanism can be used to set the commands.

In some embodiments, the peripheral device can be powered by acontrollable power source. In the case of a rear view camera, power canconveniently be taken from the back up lights and controlled by the gearshifter being put into reverse gear. The placing of the gear shift leverinto reverse powers up the camera unit, and the camera unit can sendBluetooth HID commands (normally for iOS devices) or other commands suchas custom commands (normally for Android devices) to the smartphone tocause the camera app to be called up.

In accordance with one broad aspect of some embodiments, there isprovided an automobile rear view camera device having a wireless module,a consumer control key sequence memory and interface unit connected tosaid wireless module and configured to store consumer control key codes(or descriptors), a consumer control key transmission module configuredfor automatically transmitting at least one consumer control key code ordescriptor from said consumer control key sequence memory on powering onof said device using said Bluetooth module, a rear view camera, and avideo transmission module connected to the camera and the wirelessmodule for transmitting images from the camera. The consumer control keysequence interface unit may also be configured to receive keyboardcommand configuration data from the smartphone, for configuring thekeyboard commands that are stored in computer readable memory. Forinstance, the keyboard command configuration data may provide thekeyboard command configuration data specific to a designated unlockingsequence for a smartphone, updating the unlocking keyboard commandconfiguration data as the unlocking sequence changes.

In accordance with another broad aspect of some embodiments, there isprovided a handheld computer having a wireless data module forcommunicating with an automobile rear view camera device, an operatingsystem based consumer control key module for interpreting a consumercontrol key code or descriptor received from the device by the wirelessdata module to generate operating system control commands, an operatingsystem app launch module responsive to the control commands forlaunching a rear view camera application program stored in a memory onthe handheld computer, a consumer control key descriptor set up moduleassociated with the rear view camera application program fortransmitting consumer control key data to the camera device using thewireless module, a camera viewer associated with the rear view cameraapplication program for displaying images received from the cameradevice through the wireless module.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be better understood by way of the following detaileddescription of embodiments of the invention with reference to theappended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a rear view camera system pairedwith a smartphone, where the rear view camera system and the smartphoneshare a Bluetooth connection, and the rear view camera system isactivated as a result of user input received by the smartphone.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating a rear view camera systemincorporating both an activation unit for waking up a battery poweredcamera peripheral and the use of Bluetooth keyboard commands for causingthe smartphone to present the rear view camera app to show video framesfrom the camera peripheral received over Bluetooth;

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary rear view camerasystem incorporating an activation unit sending a wireless activationsignal to the peripheral over a first wireless connection, and theperipheral, once woken up, sending over a second wireless Bluetoothconnection Bluetooth keyboard commands for causing the smartphone topresent the rear view camera app to show video frames from the cameraperipheral received over Bluetooth;

FIG. 2C is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary rear view camerasystem incorporating an activation unit sending an RF signal as anactivation signal to the peripheral, and the peripheral, once woken up,sending over a second wireless Bluetooth connection Bluetooth keyboardcommands for causing the smartphone to present the rear view camera appto show video frames from the camera peripheral received over Bluetooth;

FIG. 2D is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary rear view camerasystem where the peripheral has a connection controller module and thesmartphone shares both a Bluetooth connection and WiFi connection withthe peripheral.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart diagram showing an exemplary method of activatinga peripheral system and launching a viewing application program on asmartphone using user input received by the smartphone.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram showing the steps involved in one embodiment ofadjusting a video compression rate after an assessment of the availablebandwidth of a wireless channel used for the video transmission;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram showing the steps involved in an embodiment ofsetting vehicle camera grid lines;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing the steps involved in controlling acomputing device using a stored sequence of keyboard commands accordingto one embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a rear view camera systemconnected to 12V DC from the reverse lamp circuit incorporating the useof Bluetooth keyboard commands for causing the smartphone to present therear view camera app to show video frames from the camera peripheralreceived over Bluetooth;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a rear view camera systemwirelessly connected with a gear shift signalling system incorporatingthe use of Bluetooth keyboard commands for causing the smartphone topresent the rear view camera app to show video frames from the cameraperipheral received over Bluetooth;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a rear view camera peripheralactivated by a battery-powered, dashboard mounted activation unit havingmultiple app launching buttons;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a rear view camera peripheralactivated by a battery-powered, dashboard mounted activation unit thatworks with a GPS navigator unit that includes a camera viewer programmodule;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a smartphone coupled with abattery-powered rear-view camera peripheral according to anotherembodiment;

FIG. 12 is an oblique view of an outer face of vehicle license plateframe having a rear view camera mount;

FIG. 13 is an oblique view of an inward face of the frame of FIG. 12showing a battery compartment, a circuit board compartment, and vehiclemounting bracket;

FIG. 14 is an exploded view of a camera, circuit board with themicroprocessor and Bluetooth components corresponding to FIG. 1, circuitboard compartment cover, battery and battery compartment cover for theembodiment of FIGS. 12 and 13;

FIG. 15 is an oblique view of a wireless, battery-powered activationunit that can activate a smartphone through Bluetooth keyboard commandsand/or a battery-powered peripheral normally in a sleep mode;

FIG. 16A is an oblique view of the rear-view camera and license platemounting of FIG. 12 from the outer or front side;

FIG. 16B is a front plan view of the rear-view camera and license platemounting of FIG. 12;

FIG. 16C is a top plan view of the rear-view camera and license platemounting of FIG. 12;

FIG. 16D is a bottom plan view of the rear-view camera and license platemounting of FIG. 12;

FIG. 16E is a right side plan view of the rear-view camera and licenseplate mounting of FIGS. 12; and

FIG. 16F is a left side plan view of the rear-view camera and licenseplate mounting of FIG. 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present application teaches of a rear view camera system connectablewith a user's smartphone to view the images produced by the camera. Asthe screen of the smartphone is used to view the images from the camera,the user does not need to purchase or obtain a separate screen deviceother than the smartphone to view the images produced by the rear viewcamera. Moreover, the rear view camera system may be activated withminimal or no user input performed on the smartphone. Therefore, thepresent rear view camera system offers a means for a user to easily viewthe images produced by the rear-view camera without having to navigatethrough the smartphone to, for instance, launch the viewing app (e.g.unlocking the phone, searching for the viewing app, launching theviewing app), undesirable when the user needs to back-up quickly or torapidly identify what is located being the vehicle. As such, the presentrear view camera system may be activated by a simple double-tapperformed by the user on the smartphone's frame, pressing a button thatis part of an activation unit, or placing the gear shift in reverse, asis further described herein.

Certain Definitions

While in this description reference is made to Bluetooth wirelesstransmission, it is to be understood that this is a commonly usedwireless transmission protocol. It will be appreciated that any suitablewireless transmission protocol can be applied to variant embodimentsherein.

While in this description reference is made to iPhone, a smartphonedesigned by Apple Inc. of California, it is intended that the device 12can be any electronic device, such as a laptop or desktop computer, asmart phone or a tablet computer, such as an iPhone, iPod touch, Androidtablet or Android smart phone, GPS unit, display and the like.

Peripheral Activated By User Input On Smartphone

Reference is now made to FIG. 1, illustrating an exemplary rear viewcamera peripheral 14 connected to a smartphone 12. In the example ofFIG. 1, the exemplary smartphone 12 is one that runs on an iOS device,such as the smartphones designed by Apple Inc. However, it will beappreciated that the peripheral 14 may be used with any other smartphonewithout departing from the present teachings.

The peripheral 14 has a camera 28 for generating a stream of images.Camera 28 may be digital or analog. The peripheral 14 also has,optionally, a battery 75 and a power circuit 84. In some examples, theperipheral 14 does not run on a battery, but may be, for instance, wiredin and powered by the back-up lights of the vehicle. The peripheral 14also has a Bluetooth transceiver 16 b. The battery 75 is connected tothe power circuit 84 and, in some embodiments, to the Bluetoothtransceiver 16 b. The peripheral 14 also has a controller 86. Theperipheral 14 also has a codec 85, for compressing, encoding andtransmitting a stream of images received from the camera 28.

Method Of Activating Peripheral And Running The Viewing App

Reference is now made to FIG. 3, illustrating an exemplary method 200 ofactivating a peripheral 14 using user input performed on the smartphone12, the activation of the peripheral causing the smartphone 12 to run arear view camera application program 21 to display images from the rearview camera 28.

The smartphone 12 first detects the Bluetooth transceiver 16 b of theperipheral 14 when the smartphone 12 is in range of the Bluetoothtransceiver 16 b at step 210. The Bluetooth transceiver 16 b may beoperating with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology. Once the Bluetoothtransceiver 16 b is detected by the smartphone 12, using, for instance,geofencing between the smartphone 12 and the Bluetooth transceiver 16 b,the Bluetooth transceiver 16 b is paired with the smartphone 12 at step220, establishing a wireless Bluetooth connection between the smartphone12, via its Bluetooth interface 16 a, and the Bluetooth transceiver 16b. In some embodiments, the smartphone 12 may be placed in the vehicleon a holder having a magnet. The magnetometer of the smartphone 12(and/or its magnetic field sensors), as is known in the art, detects thepresence of the magnet, indicating that the smartphone 12 is positionedin the holder, likely ready to be used in the vehicle. This additionalinformation may be used as an indication to start sending signals to thebackground application 82 to cause it to wake up, as explained herein.

In some embodiments, once the Bluetooth transceiver 16 b is paired withthe smartphone 12 (and/or the magnetometer of the smartphone 12 picks upthe magnet of the holder of the smartphone 12), the Bluetoothtransceiver 16 b starts sending signals (e.g. pings) periodically to thesmartphone 12, to its Bluetooth interface 16 a at step 230. In oneembodiment, the Bluetooth transceiver 16 b sends a ping every second.The pings are received by the Bluetooth interface 16 a, transmitted tothe iOS of the smartphone 12 and processed by the iOS. The smartphone 12has a user input detection background application program 82 forperiodically verifying if the user has provided input that correspondsto user input indicating the user's desire to activate the peripheral14. The activation user input may be defined by the user orpre-configured when the background application 82 is added to thesmartphone 12. The background application program 82 may be configuredto verify user input data transmitted from a specific sensor 83 of thesmartphone 12 (or the background application 82 is configured toretrieve the data from the sensor 83).

In some examples, the sensor 83 in question that is verified by thebackground application program 82 may be the proximity sensor of thesmartphone 12. The proximity sensor, as is known in the art, is able todetect the proximity of nearby objects without any physical contact. Theproximity sensor of the smartphone 12 is used to detect when a user'sface is near the smartphone 12 during the call in order to avoidperforming acts associated with undesirable user taps of the displayscreen of the smartphone 12 during a call (such as one caused by an earpressing the screen of the smartphone 12). In some smartphones, theproximity sensor is located at the top of the smartphone.

The proximity sensor may register when an object is in proximity of thesmartphone 12, such as a hand positioned over a certain portion of thesmartphone 12. If the proximity sensor is located at the top of thesmartphone 12, positioning a hand over the top of the smartphone 12 isregistered by the proximity sensor. Therefore, after the backgroundapplication program 82 is woken up by a ping, it may be configured toverify if the proximity sensor has detected as user input a hand nearthe proximity sensor, or a sequence of an object coming in and out ofrange of the sensor, such as a sequence consisting of a hand coming intorange of the proximity sensor, and then out of range, followed by thehand coming back into range. It will be appreciated that any combinationof hand movements (or other movements of the body or of an object) thatcan be detected by the proximity sensor may be used as activation userinput, then retrieved by or transmitted to the background application82.

In other examples, the sensor 83 may be an accelerometer of thesmartphone 12 as is known in the art, measuring changes in velocity(e.g. vibrations) of the smartphone 12. As such, the user inputindicative of the user's desire to activate the peripheral 14 may be adouble-tap of the frame of the smartphone 12, picked up by theaccelerometer. Preferably, the activation user input is selected as onethat can be distinguished from those used to activate or function othercommon application programs found on the smartphone 12. Moreover, it isimportant that the activation user input is also sufficientlydistinguishable from acceleration, deceleration and other motions that avehicle is subject to (e.g. vibrations caused by hitting a speed bump),so that this input resulting from driving the vehicle is not falselypicked up by the accelerometer of the smartphone 12 as the activationuser input. For instance, it has been determined that the accelerometerof an iPhone 6 can sufficiently distinguish the user input of a doubletap of its frame from the double tap of the top of its screen, or themotions of the vehicle.

Moreover, the background application 82 may be configured to declarethat it supports a Core Bluetooth background execution mode in itsInformation Property List (Info.plist) file. Therefore, in someembodiments, as the background application 82 is declared as beingBluetooth sensitive, once a ping is received by the smartphone 12 fromthe Bluetooth transceiver 16 b, the iOS wakes up the backgroundapplication 82 at step 240. The background application 82 stays awakefor a certain time following being woken up, and verifies the user inputdata received from the accelerometer. However, as the pings are sentperiodically to wake up the background application 82, each ping keeps,in some embodiments, the background application 82 awake. The backgroundapplication 82 may include a detection algorithm for analyzing the userinput data in order to identify activation user input (e.g. by loggingin the user input data, comparing against the other forms of user inputregistered by the smartphone 12 and the vibrations of the vehicle whenmoving, and/or identifying if it is comparable to the activation userinput). In some embodiments, if the user input data matches theactivation user input, then the background application 82 sends atrigger signal to the Bluetooth transceiver at step 250. The triggersignal can be defined as, when the activation user input is a double-tapon the frame of the smartphone:

<Trigger>

<Source> double tap on the phone</Source>

</Trigger>

or it can be very a binary hex as 2 bytes, where the first byte definesa command and the second the source of the commands, for instance:0×01—trigger0×03—double tap on the phone.

In some embodiments, the trigger signal is sent to the Bluetoothtransceiver 16 b via the Bluetooth interface 16 a, communicated throughthe Bluetooth connection established between the smartphone 12 and theBluetooth transceiver 16 b.

In some embodiments, the background application 82 does not identify ifthe user input corresponds to the activation user input, instead sendingall of the user input received from at least one of the smartphone'ssensors to the Bluetooth transceiver 16 b (e.g. in the form of a binaryhex identifying the type of user input). The Bluetooth transceiver 16 bmay have an analyzing function for analyzing the user input datareceived and comparing it with specific activation user input data (e.g.if the Bluetooth transceiver 16 b receives a binary hex, the binary hexis compared to establish if it corresponds to that leading to theactivation of the peripheral 14).

In some embodiments, once the Bluetooth transceiver 16 b receives atrigger signal indicative of user input for activating the peripheral14, the Bluetooth transceiver 16 b prompts the activation of the othercomponents of the peripheral 14 at step 260. In other embodiments, theactivation of the other components of the peripheral 14 may be activatedfollowing the wireless transceiver 16 b receiving an activation signalfrom an activation unit as described herein (e.g. a button that ispressed by a user, the activation unit sending a wireless activationsignal to the peripheral 14 upon the pressing of the button). Forinstance, the Bluetooth transceiver 16 b may signal the activation ofthe power circuit 84, allowing power from the battery 75 to be sent tothe controller 86 and the rear view camera 28. Once the controller 86 ispowered, the controller 86 retrieves and reads from non-volatile memory24 a sequence of keyboard commands at step 270. In the case of the AppleiPhone®, keyboard commands can be used to perform actions that normallyare associated with the device's touch screen actions or buttons, as forexample, the swipe action to initiate unlocking a locked phone, thepressing of the home button, volume control, etc. Likewise, running adesired app can be implemented by using a keyboard command to initiate asearch or find on the smartphone, and then sending keystrokes of thename of the app on the smartphone 12 will cause the desired app 21 to befound, with another keystroke, such as ENTER. Modules 18 and 20represent parts of the smartphone 12 operating system that processwireless keyboard commands and allow such commands to launch applicationprograms or apps. In the present example of method 200, the sequence ofkeyboard commands may be those for unlocking the smartphone, searchingfor an application program 21 for viewing the images originating fromthe camera 28, and run the viewing application program 21. In someembodiments, the sequence of keyboard commands may be preceded by thesending of at least one character to the smartphone 12 for lighting upthe smartphone 12, followed by the sequence of keyboard commands forunlocking the smartphone 12 and running the viewing application program21. In other embodiments, the sequence of keyboard commands may belimited to those for running the application program 21. For instance,the sequence of keyboard commands, once received by the smartphone 12,may be processed by the OS of the smartphone 12 to cause the applicationprogram 21 to run and to present a notification window appearing on thescreen of the smartphone 12 when the smartphone 12 is locked. Forexample, in the case of an iOS device, such as the iPhone 6, the usermay swipe to the side the notification box corresponding to app 21 and,by using the iOS device's fingerprint security protocol, unlock thedevice by presenting the user's fingerprint (or the user may type in theuser's unlock code). Once the smartphone 12 unlocked, app 21 begins torun and the display of the smartphone 12 begins to show the imagesreceived from the peripheral 14.

The controller 86 then transmits the sequence of keyboard commands tothe Bluetooth transceiver 16 b. The Bluetooth transceiver 16 b transmitsthe sequence of keyboard commands via the Bluetooth connection to theBluetooth interface 16 a of the smartphone 12 at step 280. The data ofthe sequence of keyboard commands are processed by modules 18 and 20,and the iOS carries out these commands to, optionally unlock the phone,then search for the viewing application program 21, and run the viewingapplication program 21.

In the case where the peripheral 14 adheres to Apple's MFi licensingprogram, the user may be required to select an “allow” button thatappears on the display of the smartphone 12 to run the viewingapplication program 21. Touching the portion of the screen correspondingto the “allow” button may allow the user to run the viewing applicationprogram 21. In other embodiments, the pressing of “allow” button may beperformed using the AssistiveTouch™ application program of the iOS.

The stream of image data generated by the rear view camera 28 may beoptionally encoded and, in some examples, compressed, by the codec 85(e.g. at different compression rates depending on the availablebandwidth). The stream of image data may also be transmitted to thesmartphone 12 by the Bluetooth transceiver 16 b via the Bluetoothconnection between the Bluetooth transceiver 16 b and the Bluetoothinterface 16 a.

The stream of images made be decoded by the smartphone's codec 32, anddisplayed on the screen of the smartphone 12 using the now activeviewing application program 21. In some examples, the backgroundapplication 82 and the viewing application program 21 are part of thesame program. In other examples, they are separate programs.

The peripheral 14 is therefore fully operational with its viewingapplication program 21 running on the smartphone 12 at step 290.

Turning On The Background Peripheral

The background application program 82 may be turned off on thesmartphone 12, requiring that it is turned on before use. In someembodiments, the BLE-based Bluetooth transceiver 16 b may function as abeacon for the smartphone 12. Using geolocation, once the smartphone 12is in range of Bluetooth transceiver 16 b, the background applicationprogram 82, having a permission to use the geolocation service, isturned on by the OS of the smartphone 12. Once the smartphone 12 movesout of range of the Bluetooth transceiver 16 b, the OS of the smartphone12 turns off the background application program 82. In other examples,the user may manually turn on the background application program 82 ormanually turn off the background application program 82, receiving, forinstance, a warning in the form of a message when the backgroundapplication program 82 is to be or has been turned off

Peripheral Components

Reference is made back to the exemplary peripheral of FIG. 1.

The camera 28 and the peripheral 14 can be mounted to the rear licenseplate mounting of a vehicle. The battery 75 may be contained in themounting frame. The controller 26, the Bluetooth transceiver 16 b, thecodec 85, the non-volatile memory 24 and the power circuit 84 may bemounted on a single chip or circuit board (or in some embodiments, onseparate chips or circuit boards), and the single chip or circuit boardmay also be contained within a compartment of the mounting frame. Thecontroller 26 may be a microprocessor (such as a MSP430F5254RGCT) thatincludes non-volatile memory 24 (including the configuration memory).Non-volatile memory can also be provided using a component separate fromthe microprocessor. Some models of microprocessors may include aBluetooth wireless transceiver 16 b, while a separate component for sucha wireless transceiver (Bluetooth or otherwise) can be provided using aseparate IC component (for example, a BLE0202C2P chip and/or aCC2564MODN chip). In some embodiments, the peripheral 14 may have twoBluetooth transceivers, one with BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) technology,and the other with Bluetooth Classic technology. The BLE chip of theperipheral 14 may connect with the BLE chip of the smartphone 12.However, once the peripheral 14 is activated, then the smartphone 12,having its own Bluetooth Classic chip, establishes a wireless connectionwith the Bluetooth Classic chip of the peripheral 14. As the BluetoothClassic chip 14 consumes more energy, but may have greater bandwidththat the wireless connection established between BLE chips, in someexamples, it is active only when the peripheral 14 is activated or whenprompted to turn on. As such, the Bluetooth Classic connection is usedto transmit the stream of image data to the smartphone 12 from theperipheral 14 over its greater bandwidth connection. When the peripheral14 is shut off, so may the Bluetooth Classic chip return to sleep mode,or shut off, to save power. Once the Bluetooth Classic chip shut off,the BLE chip may remain active, consuming less power, waiting for thesmartphone 12 to send a signal triggering a subsequent activation of theperipheral 14. In other embodiments, the wireless transceiver 16 b maybe a Bluetooth chip operating with low battery consumption and capableof establishing a bandwidth connection comparable with that of BluetoothClassic technology (in these embodiments, the BLE chip may always beactive).

The peripheral 14 is woken up from a low-power sleep state using theBluetooth transceiver 16 b. In some examples, the Bluetooth transceiver16 b is a Bluetooth chip. In some embodiments, the Bluetooth transceiver16 b is connected to the battery 75 (and in some examples, connected tothe battery 75 via the power circuit 84), and receives power from thebattery 75. The Bluetooth transceiver 16 b may be a Bluetooth Low EnergyChip, integrating the BLE wireless personal area network technology orBluetooth Smart™. The Bluetooth transceiver 16 b is also configured tosend a ping or signal to the smartphone 12, once the peripheral 14 ispaired with the smartphone 12. The Bluetooth transceiver 16 b alsoreceives a trigger signal from the smartphone via the wirelessconnection to activate the peripheral 14. Therefore, the Bluetoothtransceiver 16 b may cause the power circuit 84 to allow power to runfrom the battery 75 to the other components of the peripheral 14 (e.g.the rear view camera 28 and the controller 86). The Bluetoothtransceiver is also connected to the rear view camera 28 or to the codec85 and receives a stream of image data (encoded or decoded; compressedor uncompressed), from the rear view camera 28 or the codec 85. TheBluetooth transceiver 16 b may then transmit the image data over thewireless connection established with, for instance, the smartphone'sBluetooth interface 16 a, to the smartphone 12 for viewing by the useron the smartphone's screen.

In other embodiments, the wireless transceiver 16 b may be a wirelessUSB transceiver.

Consumer control key non-volatile memory and interface 24 is computerreadable memory that may store the keyboard commands for at least oneactivation button, and instructions that are readable and may beexecuted by the consumer control key transmission module 26 (e.g. memorymay store one sequence of keyboard commands associated with one task, ormultiple sequences of keyboard commands, each associated to at least onetask such as unlocking the smartphone 12, searching for the applicationprogram 21, running the application program 21). The consumer controlkey interface 24 may also be configured to receive wirelessly commandkey configuration data from the smartphone 12. The command keyconfiguration data may provide information on the sequence of keyboardcommands to be stored. Therefore, the smartphone 12 may send informationto the peripheral 14 regarding the sequence of keyboard commands to beused. Such may be practical, for instance, when the password to unlockthe smartphone 12 changes. The new sequence of characters to unlock thesmartphone 12 may be sent by the smartphone 12 to the consumer controlkey non-volatile memory and interface 24 in the form of command keyconfiguration data, the sequence of keyboard commands stored in consumercontrol key non-volatile memory and interface 24 updated as a result.

In the examples where there the peripheral 14 has a battery 75, thepower circuit 84 is connected to the Bluetooth transceiver 16 b andallows power to flow from the battery 75 to the controller 86 and to thecamera 28 when a signal is sent by the Bluetooth transceiver 16 b toactivate the peripheral 14 (or activate the power circuit 84 that inturn activates the other components of the peripheral 14). The powercircuit 84 may be a power management integrated circuit. The powercircuit 84 may also cease the flow of power from the battery 75 to thecontroller 86 and to the rear view camera 28 when the power circuit 84receives a signal from the Bluetooth transceiver 16 b to deactivate thepower circuit 84 or deactivate the peripheral 14.

In some embodiments, the peripheral 14 is wired directly to back-uplamps, as described herein with respect to FIG. 7.

The codec 85 is a video codec as is known in the art for encoding astream of images received from said rear view camera 28. The codec 85may also compress the image data to reduce transmission bandwidth. Insome embodiments, the codec 85 may be connected to the controller 86,where the controller 86 may vary the compression rate of the image data,via the codec 85, as a function of available bandwidth of the wirelesschannel established between the Bluetooth transceiver 16 b and Bluetoothinterface 16 a, as explained herein. In some embodiments, the codec 85may be part of the rear view camera 28. In other embodiments, the codec85 may be separate from the rear view camera 28.

The battery 75 may be that as is known in the art. The battery 75 may berechargeable.

The Activation Unit +Peripheral Combination

In some embodiments, the activation of the peripheral may be initiatedby a signal received from an activation unit 15. In some embodiments,the activation unit 15 may be separate from the peripheral system. Asdescribed herein, the activation unit 15 may be, for example, a donglewith a button that may be pushed by the user to signal the activation ofthe peripheral 14. In other embodiments, the activation unit 15 may be adevice that sends a signal when the gear stick is shifted to a certainposition, or the back-up lights turn on, as further described herein.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2A, illustrating an exemplary peripheralcamera system 10, with a peripheral 14 connected to an activation unit15. The wake-up signal is sent by the activation unit 15 in theembodiment of FIG. 2A. Unit 15 can be a small battery-powered buttonsupported on a key-chain, dashboard of a vehicle, visor, air vent, orany other suitable location that can allow the user to press a button(or otherwise issue a command) to cause the unit 15 to send a wirelesssignal to the interface 16 b to cause the peripheral 14 to wake up. Unit15 can be a stand-alone device or it can be integrated into a phoneholder/case or tablet holder/case.

The activation unit 15 may establish a first wireless connection withthe peripheral 14 that is not, in some examples, a Bluetooth connection.As shown in FIG. 2B, the activation unit 15 connects with a wirelessinterface 17 of the peripheral 14. The wireless interface 17 may beconfigured to establish a wireless connection with the activation unit15, and receive a wireless activation signal from the activation unit15. The peripheral 14 may establish a second distinct wirelessconnection with the smartphone 12 (e.g. a Bluetooth connection). Theactivation unit 15 may send the activation signal, for causing theperipheral 14 to turn on, to the wireless interface 17 across thewireless connection. As shown in FIG. 2B, the Bluetooth interface 16 bestablishes a Bluetooth connection with the Bluetooth interface 16 a ofthe smartphone 12. This Bluetooth connection may be used to transmit thesequence of keyboard commands to the smartphone 12, or the stream ofimages from the rear view camera 28 to be displayed on the smartphone12. In other embodiments, the activation unit 15 may establish a firstwireless connection with the smartphone 12, and a second wirelessconnection with the peripheral 14.

In some examples, as shown in FIG. 2C, the activation unit 15 maycommunicate via radio frequency signals with the peripheral 14 (e.g.over a 915 MHz transmission channel), where the activation signal may bea radio signal. The peripheral 14 may have a RF module 18 (having, e.g.a RF module or RF transceiver chip as is known in the art) and theactivation unit 15 may also have a RF module as is known in the artcommunicating with RF module 18 of the peripheral 14.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2A, the peripheral, once woken up, sendsBluetooth keyboard commands to the smartphone 12 to cause the latter tounlock (in the case that it was locked) and to run an app 21 associatedwith the rear view camera, including a viewer 34. The peripheral 14 hasa program module 26 that causes the transmission of wireless keyboardcommands previously stored in memory 26 to the Bluetooth interface 16 aof the phone 12. Once these commands are sent, module 26 causes anothermodule 30 of the peripheral 14 to encode the video images from camera 28for transmission to the phone 12. The video encoding module 30 cancomprise a hardware chip or software within the microcontroller orcomputer system.

In the case that the peripheral 14 transmits the keyboard commands tothe smartphone 12, an HID keyboard is started using a classic Bluetoothconnection. Module 26 then sends a sequence of keyboard commands storedin memory 24. In the case of an iPhone, this can comprise the followingsteps:

-   -   send a first keystroke to light up the smartphone;    -   send HID keyboard command for unlock swipe    -   send passcode 4 digits or long passcode with ENTER    -   in some examples, the Bluetooth keyboard can be stopped so as to        be able to use an assistive touch command    -   turn on the camera 28 in the peripheral 14    -   send iOS launch command to launch app 21    -   in some examples, start iOS assistive touch, start HID point        device (Mouse service) and move mouse pointer to the “OK”        confirm position and press to actually start camera APP; in        other examples, launch the Spotlight Search app, enter the        keyboard commands corresponding to the name of the image viewing        application program, and launch the image viewing application        program.    -   Once the app is fully launched, the video streaming starts. In        some examples, disable assistive touch if it was activated to        launch the viewing app.

An example of a command that simulates a press on touch screen can be asfollows:

Enable assistive touch /* HID map descriptor */ const unsigned charstartHidMouseMessage[ ] = { /* param 1 HIDComponentIdentifier*/0x00,0x06, /* length */ 0x00,0x00, /* ID */ 0x00,0x00, /* param 2vendorIdentifer */ 0x00,0x06, /* length */ 0x00,0x01, /* ID */0x04,0x61, /* param 3 productIdentifier */ 0x00,0x06, /* length */0x00,0x02, /* ID */ 0x00,0x00, /* param 4 HID report descriptor */0x00,0x36, /* length */ 0x00,0x04, /* ID */ 0x05 ,0x01, 0x09 ,0x02, 0xa1,0x01, 0x09 ,0x01, 0xa1 ,0x00, 0x05 ,0x09, 0x19 ,0x01, 0x29 ,0x03, 0x15,0x00, 0x25 ,0x01, 0x95 ,0x03, 0x75 ,0x01, 0x81 ,0x02, 0x95 ,0x01, 0x75,0x05, 0x81 ,0x01, 0x05 ,0x01, 0x09 ,0x30, 0x09 ,0x31, 0x15 ,0x81, 0x25,0x7f, 0x75 ,0x08, 0x95 ,0x02, 0x81 ,0x06, 0xc0 , 0xc0 };ISPP_Send_Control_Message(BluetoothStackID, SerialPortID,0x5400,0,NULL);//start assistivetouch ISPP_Send_Control_Message(BluetoothStackID,SerialPortID,0x6800,sizeof(startHidMouseMessage),(unsigned char*)startHidMouseMessage); To simulate the screen press: unsigned charmouseCmd[ ] = { /* param 1 HIDComponentIdentifier*/ 0x00,0x06, /* length*/ 0x00,0x00, /* ID */ 0x00,0x00, /* param 2 vendorIdentifer */0x00,0x07, /* length */ 0x00,0x01, /* ID */ 0x01,0x00,0x00 };ISPP_Send_Control_Message(BluetoothStackID,SerialPortID,0x6802,sizeof(mouseCmd),mouseCmd);

The memory 24 may store one sequence of keyboard commands associatedwith one task, or multiple sequences of keyboard commands, eachassociated to at least one task, such as, unlocking the smartphone 12,searching for the application program 21, running the applicationprogram 21.

In other examples, the keyboard commands do not need to include thosefor unlocking the smartphone 12. For instance, the sequence of keyboardcommands may be limited to those necessary to run the applicationprogram 21. Once the smartphone 12 receives the sequence of keyboardcommands, the sequence may be processed by the OS of the smartphone 12to cause the application program 21 to run and to present a notificationwindow appearing on the screen of the smartphone 12 when the smartphone12 is locked. For example, in the case of an iOS device, such as theiPhone 6, the user may swipe to the side the notification boxcorresponding to app 21 and, by using the iOS device's fingerprintsecurity protocol, unlock the device by presenting the user'sfingerprint (or the user may type in the user's unlock code). Once thesmartphone 12 unlocked, app 21 begins to run and the display of thesmartphone 12 begins to show the images received from the peripheral 14.

It will be understood that the sequence of keyboard commands used tocause the smartphone to perform certain tasks, such as its unlocking orrunning a designated application, depends on the platform of thesmartphone. The sequence of keyboard commands also depends upon the taskto be carried out. Therefore, a skilled person will readily understandthat a desired sequence of keyboard commands for a specific platform maybe determined using basic trial and observation, where the effect ofreceiving a specific sequence of keyboard commands by the smartphone ismonitored for the desired action.

While the video transmission in FIG. 2A is done using the same Bluetoothinterface 16 b as is used for the wireless keyboard interface, aseparate wireless transmission link could be used. For example, it ispossible to use an IEEE 802.11 (i.e. WiFi) link or a wireless USB orWUSB link to transmit the video data. This would require connecting thesmartphone 12 to a corresponding WiFi link bridge of the peripheral 14.Keyboard commands from peripheral 14 can be used to cause the smartphoneto establish a WiFi connection to a WiFi module of the peripheral 14.This option can provide greater bandwidth than Bluetooth, however,causing the smartphone 12 to make the new WiFi connection can cause thesmartphone 12 to drop an existing WiFi connection and can require a fewseconds to establish. Applicant has found the use of WiFi to beacceptable in some circumstances, however, Bluetooth communication hasbeen found to be faster to start and to have sufficient bandwidth forthe rear view camera application.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2D, the peripheral 14 may share aWiFi connection with the smartphone 12 in addition to the Bluetoothconnection established between the smartphone 12 and the peripheral 14.The Bluetooth connection is established between the Bluetooth interface16 a of the smartphone 12 and the Bluetooth interface 16 b of theperipheral 14. The smartphone 12 and the peripheral 14 share a commonWiFi connection, where both wireless network interface 91 a of thesmartphone and the wireless network interface 91 b of the peripheral 14connect to a common WiFi connection (e.g. the building's WiFi connectionwhen the vehicle is in or in proximity of the building; a wirelessnetwork connection; or a wireless wide area network).

In some embodiments, the smartphone 12 has a channel bandwidthestimation app 92 configured to estimate the connectivity and/or theavailable bandwidth over the WiFi connection between the smartphone 12and the peripheral 14. In some examples, channel bandwidth estimationapp 92 may also estimate the available bandwidth over the Bluetoothinterface 16 a for sending signals to the peripheral 14 to adjust, forinstance the FPS or compression ratio of the stream of image data. Thechannel bandwidth estimation app 92 estimates the available bandwidthover the WiFi connection by communicating with the wireless networkinterface 91 a. The channel bandwidth estimation app 92 detects if thebandwidth of the WiFi connection drops under a desired level, and/or ifthe WiFi connection is lost altogether. If so, the channel bandwidthestimation app 92 may send, via the Bluetooth interface 16 a (or, if theWiFi connection is of limited bandwidth, but still active, via thewireless network interface 91 a), a signal to the Bluetooth interface 16b (or wireless network interface 91 b). This signal is relayed to theconnection controller module 31. The connection controller module 31(e.g. module 31 may be software stored in the memory of peripheral 14,carried out by a processor of the peripheral 14) receives the signal andinstructs the video compression and transmission module 30 to switch thesending of the stream of image data from the wireless network interface91 b (over WiFi) to the Bluetooth Interface 16 b (over Bluetooth).

Similarly, when the WiFi connection is re-established or when theavailable bandwidth of the WiFi connection increases, as determined bythe channel bandwidth estimation app 92, the channel bandwidthestimation app 92 may send a signal to the peripheral 14 to switch thestreaming of image data to the WiFi connection. The connectioncontroller module 31 receives this signal and instructs the videocompression and transmission module 30 to transmit the stream of imagedata to the wireless network interface 91 b (to send via the WiFiconnection), and not the Bluetooth interface 16 b.

In some embodiments, the smartphone 12 may not have a channel bandwidthestimation app 92. In these embodiments, the analysis of WiFiconnectivity and available bandwidth may be done by the connectioncontroller module 31. The connection controller module 31 may thensignal the video compression and transmission module 30 to switchbetween transmitting the stream of image data to the Bluetooth interface16 b or the wireless network interface 91 b depending upon the WiFiconnectivity and/or the available bandwidth over the WiFi connection.

It will be understood that because the WiFi connection may providegreater bandwidth than the Bluetooth connection, a switch of thestreaming of image data from the WiFi connection to the Bluetoothconnection, such as when the WiFi connection is lost, may requireadjusting the frame rate and/or the compression ratio of the stream ofimage data. For instance, the stream of image data may be at 30 FPS whenstreaming over the WiFi connection, but may drop to 16 FPS, including,in some cases, a change in the compression ratio of the stream of imagedata, when switched to the Bluetooth connection. In some examples, ifthe available bandwidth of the Bluetooth connection drops, the videocompression and transmission module 30 (receiving instructions from theconnection controller module 31) adjusts instead the compression ratioso that the frame rate does not drop below a certain level which wouldlead to a choppy video (i.e. the video is no longer fluid), The varyingof the compression ratio allows to compensate for the reduced availablebandwidth while maintaining a fluid video (e.g. over 16 FPS).

Furthermore, the bandwidth available over the wireless communicationslink can be assessed and the video transmission rate can be adjustedaccording to the assessed bandwidth by setting a compression ratio inmodule 30, for example a TW9900 chip with an OV780 chip that can providea variable compression ratio. The available bandwidth can be assessed,for example, by sending a block of data from peripheral 14 to app 21 andmeasuring the time required for the block of data to be transmitted. Theperipheral 14 can then adjust the compression and/or the frame rateaccordingly. Applicant has found that the quality of viewing is greatlyimproved to use a frame rate and/or a compression rate that the channelcan handle without dropping frames rather than using a lower compressionrate or a frame rate that then involves some frame drops. For instance,when the peripheral 14 is used for assisting a driver with backing upthe driver's vehicle, the video feed received by the driver is as closeas possible to real-time (e.g. no buffering) for allowing the driver topromptly react as he or she is operating the vehicle as a function ofthe received image feed. If the driver receives an intermittent video asa result of dropped frames, due, for example, to limited availablebandwidth, the driver may be missing important information, such as thepresence on an obstacle behind the vehicle (e.g. a child) and may nothave received the visual information in time to avoid the obstacle.

To ensure the Bluetooth streamed video's latency performance, thefollowing can be performed. The Bluetooth radio's usage of thesmartphone can be monitored in real-time. This can be done with the helpof app 21 in communication with peripheral 14. It is determined if aphone call is in progress at device 12 and if the audio route is toBluetooth hands-free. If Smartphone's 12 Bluetooth radio is in use, thenthe H264 video's compression ratio in module 30 is dynamically adjustedto reduce the bit rate of the video so that video's latency performanceis assured. Then, app 21 monitors the video streaming bit rate inreal-time, as smartphone 12 knows the video's source bit rate, if thestreaming bit rate is lower than the source bit rate (consistently for apredefined period of time), the app 21 can decide that the lowerstreaming bit rate is due to interference of surrounding environment andincrease the H264 video's compression ratio by sending a command toperipheral 14 to reduce video source bit rate in module 30.

It is also possible to cause the smartphone 12 to stop using thewireless channel for the telephone call audio by causing the smartphoneto change the audio output of the smartphone from, for example,Bluetooth to the smartphone's own built-in speaker. The app 21 may ormay not be able to issue such a command to the operating system of thesmartphone 12, and in the case that it cannot, suitable wirelesskeyboard commands can be issued from module 26 to cause the audiostreaming usage of the wireless channel to be stopped so that morebandwidth is available for the video data. When video transmission isover, the user can restore telephone call streaming over the wirelesschannel, or the app 21 or module 26 can perform the restoration.

The steps involved in adjusting the frame rate or compression rate inthe video encoding are illustrated in FIG. 4.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2A, the smartphone 12 has a video codec 32that is shown as part of the operating system of the hand held computeror smartphone. Alternatively, the video codec 32 could be provided insoftware within the app 21. Decoded video frames from module 32 are thendisplayed on the display viewer 34. While it is preferable to transmitencoded and compressed video, uncompressed images can also betransmitted, possibly at a lower resolution or frame rate.

When a driver is finished using the peripheral 14, the user can switchapps using the interface controls of the smartphone 12 or alternativelythe unit 15 can be used to signal closing or stopping of the peripheral14. Unit 15 can make use of a separate key or an interpretation of asame key (subsequent press, held-down press, or a double tap) to issueshutdown commands to either the peripheral 14 or the smartphone 12, orto both. The shutdown command to the phone 12 can involve Bluetoothkeyboard commands to be sent directly or via peripheral 14 to interface16 a to cause the peripheral 14 app 21 to close and then, preferably asconfigured by the user, the smartphone 12 can turn its screen off, lock,go to a home screen, go to a GPS navigator app, etc. This can save theuser from having to manipulate the smartphone 12, following a backing upaction of the vehicle and normally an immediate action of continuing todrive forward.

Because the camera 28 can be an after-market device, the position of thecamera, its tilt angle and the vehicle width are not known untilinstallation. In some embodiments, rear view camera grid lines can beused to estimate the distance and the width of the vehicle when usingthe camera image for backing up. Such grid lines are known, and in thecase of grid lines to guide backing up into a parking space, the linesappear as curved lines that should follow the image of the parkingspace's parallel lines with transverse curved lines showing distancefrom the vehicle bumper to the end of the space. Producing an overlay ofgrid lines using an analog video camera is complicated, and in someembodiments, grid line display is achieved in app 22 rather than in theperipheral 14. The app 22 can be provided with a settings mode thatgives the user the ability to adjust the grid lines. Because thesmartphone 12 is wirelessly receiving the images, the user can exit thevehicle and stand in the camera's field of view to be on the grid linesseen using app 22. FIG. 5 illustrates the step involved in configuringthe grid lines. The user can then use the interface of the app to setthe position of each of the side or width lines to take intoconsideration camera position (particularly when the license plate is toone side of the rear of the vehicle) and the vehicle width, and to setthe position of the transverse distance line or lines. These calibrationsettings can be stored in the app 22 or they can be stored in theperipheral 14 so that they can be retrieved and used with the smartphoneapp 22 of other users.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment similar to that of FIG. 2A in whichactivation of the peripheral comes from a different mechanism than theactivation unit 15. In FIG. 7, the rear view camera peripheral 14 isturned on by being powered from the 12V DC power taken from thevehicle's reverse indicator lights. An installer finds the power cablesconnected to the back up or reverse indicator lamps, and splices in apower cable that feeds the peripheral 14. Since power is provided to thereverse indicator lamps by a switch associated with the gear shiftmechanism, the peripheral is selectively powered only when the vehicleis in reverse gear.

When the peripheral 14 is battery-powered, installation in the case of avehicle can be simplified because a power cable is not required to passfrom an inside of the vehicle to an outside. However, on/off control ofthe peripheral 14 using a vehicle signal, such as the on/off state ofthe back-up indicator lights, is convenient because the driver does notneed to engage a separate control for the camera. In an alternativeembodiment, the activation unit 15 is installed in the vehicle to becontrolled by a vehicle signal, such as the on/off state of the back-upindicator lights. For example, an activation unit can be installed in acompartment housing the rear brake/running/back-up indicator lights andpowered by the turning on of the back-up lights. In this way, when thedriver puts the vehicle into reverse, the activation unit 15 can causethe operation of the rear-view camera to start.

In some embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the activation of theperipheral 14 may be the result of a signal that it receives once a gearstick of the vehicle is placed in reverse. For example, the peripheral14 may be activated by receiving a signal from an activation unit 15acting as (or having) a gear shift signaling device. The activation unit15 detects when the gear stick is shifted into a certain position, forinstance, a reverse position (indicating that the driver intends to backup the vehicle), and sends a signal to the peripheral 14 that in turncommunicates with the smartphone 12 to turn on the APP 21 responsiblefor showing the images streamed from the rear view camera 28.

The activation unit 15 of FIG. 8 has a property generator 71 forgenerating a change in a given property (e.g. a magnetic field, changein light intensity), a sensor 73 adapted to pick up on a specificproperty change, a wireless transmitter 72 responsive to the sensor 73picking up on a given property change, and an attachment device forjoining at least a portion of the activation unit 15 to the shaft of thegear stick (or another portion of the gear stick).

The wireless transmitter 72 may be one for establishing a bandwidthlimited connection, e.g. a wireless Bluetooth transmitter. The wirelesstransmitter 72 may transmit, via a Bluetooth connection, an activationsignal to the peripheral 14 via the Bluetooth interface 16 b (or to itscamera 28) once the sensor picks up on a desired change in property. Thewireless transmitter 72 is connected to the sensor 73, receiving asignal from the sensor 73 once the sensor 73 picks up on a specificproperty change. In some examples, the wireless transmitter 72 is aradio frequency transmitter (e.g. a RF module) configured to send awireless RF activation signal to the peripheral 14 once a gear shift tothe desired position is detected.

The attachment device is attached to at least a portion of theactivation unit 15 and is adapted to attach to the gear stick. Forinstance, the attachment device may be an adjustable clamp on ring (e.g.a clamp ring), wrapping around the shaft of the gear stick, to which atleast a part of the activation unit 15 is attached.

The property generator 71 may be composed of two parts. A first part ofthe property generator is located in the car next to the position of thegear stick when the gear stick is placed in reverse. For instance, thefirst part of the property generator 71 may be fixed on the innersurface of the box that at least partly encases the gear stick, thefirst part of the property generator 71 located at the position wherethe gear stick is located when moved to the reverse position. A secondpart of the property generator 71 may be joined to the gear stick. Whenthe gear stick shifts to the reverse position, the first and secondparts of the property generator 71 align and/or are placed in proximityso as to create a property change. For instance, the first part of theproperty generator 71 may be a magnetic strip, and the second part ofthe property generator 71 may be a magnet located on the activation unit15 joined to the gear stick. Therefore, the magnetic strip is fixed, butthe magnet joined to the gear stick shifts with the gear stick. Themagnetic strip and the magnet on the gear stick are positioned in such away that when the gear stick shifts into reverse, the magnet attached tothe gear stick moves next to the magnetic strip, generating a magneticfield change (i.e. a property change). In other examples, the first partof the property generator 71 may be a reflective strip placed next towhere the gear stick would be in the reverse position, and the secondpart of the property generator 71 may be a light source (or lightemitter) connected to the gear stick. The light emitted by the lightsource is reflected by the reflective strip when the gear stick ispositioned in reverse. The above are but examples of a propertygenerator 71 and the skilled person will readily recognize that othermeans for generating a property change when the gear is shifted to adesired position may be used.

The sensor 73 is attached to the gear stick via the attachment deviceand detects a change in a given property, the change in property createdby the property generator 71 when its first and second parts are placedin proximity as a result of the gear stick moving into reverse. Forinstance, the sensor 73 may be one for detecting the creation or changein a magnetic field, such as by detecting the variation in an outputvoltage (e.g. a Hall effect sensor). In this example, where the firstpart of the property generator 71 is a magnetic strip, and the secondpart of the property generator 71 is a magnet, the magnetic field sensor73 detects the magnetic field created when the magnet, attached to thegear stick is moved next to magnetic strip. In another example, thesensor 73 is a light sensor (e.g. a photo sensor), and the first part ofthe property generator 71 is a reflective strip and the second part ofthe property generator 71 is a light source attached to the gear stick(via the attachment device). When the light source is moved with thegear stick in proximity with the reflective surface (the gear stickbeing in reverse), the light emitted by the light source is reflectedoff the reflective strip and detected by the light sensor 73. When thegear stick is in another position than in reverse, the light is notreflected off the reflective strip and the light sensor 73 does notdetect light (the property change). Once the sensor 73 picks up on theproperty change, indicative of the gear stick being put into reverse,the sensor 73 sends a signal to (or prompts) the wireless transmitter72. In response, the wireless transmitter 72 sends an activation signalvia the wireless connection to the peripheral 14, the peripheral 14turning on its rear view camera 28 once it receives the wirelessactivation signal from the wireless transmitter 72. In some examples,the wireless transmitter 72 may send a wireless signal to the smartphone12 to turn on and open the camera APP 21 (e.g. keyboard commands to turnon the smartphone and run the camera APP 21). In other examples, thesmartphone 12 and the camera APP 21 are turned on by the peripheral 14,receiving the keyboard commands or activation signal from the peripheral14, once the peripheral 14 has received the activation signal from theactivation unit 15.

It will be appreciated that the activation unit 15 may send out a signalto cause the peripheral 14 and/or smartphone 12 to turn on when the gearstick is shifted into another position than reverse (e.g. in “Drive”),such as when the peripheral's camera is to turn on when the vehicle is,for instance, put into “Drive” (the camera located as the front of thevehicle). Necessary adjustments are made to the positioning of thecomponents of the activation unit 15 as a result, such as the locationof the first part of the property generator 71 (e.g. placing the firstpart of the property generator 71 next to where the gear stick ispositioned when in “Drive”).

The steps for the embodiment of the rear view camera video startsequence can be as follows. The user can approach the vehicle whereperipheral 14 is paired with his or her phone 12. The peripheral 14detects phone 12, making a classic Bluetooth connection, and MFiauthentication is done. The phone 12 and peripheral 14 are nowconnected. The Bluetooth connection between them is maintained withminimum power consumption by maintaining only the Bluetooth componentpowered while the camera and video compression processor are off. Thepower requirements for maintaining this Bluetooth connection are so lowthat conventional batteries can power the unit 14 to remain wirelesslyconnected for years at a time. Pressing a button on activation unit 15can cause it to turn on and connect to the peripheral 14. Peripheral 14responds to the signal from unit 15 to cause the camera 28 and videotransmission 30 of peripheral 14 to turn on.

In some embodiments, peripheral 14 and activation unit 15 are paired atthe factory. Interface 16 b can be configured to be always advertising.Activation unit 15 is normally off. When a button is pushed on unit 15,power is supplied from its battery and the

Bluetooth connection is made. In peripheral 14, when the interface 16 bis connected to the activation unit 15, interface 16 b turns on theremainder of the components in peripheral 14. Thus, codec 30 and camera28 turn on. When the vehicle driver wants to use the rear view camera,the video button on unit 15 is pressed. Unit 15 can be powered by asmall button battery, and so can be powered on by pressing its button.In some embodiments, this is the only button. The Bluetooth module 16 bof the rear view camera peripheral unit 14 detects the button pressed.The module 16 b now powers up the peripheral components. In the case ofa microprocessor that can be woken up by an interrupt, module 16 bissues the interrupt. As a result, the camera 28 is powered and videocompression and transmission 30 are ready to be started. Videocompression can be handled in the microprocessor, or it can be handledby a separate chip, for example a TW9900 chip with an OV780 chip.

The peripheral 14, particularly in the case of a vehicle rear viewcamera accessory, can be vulnerable to theft. To reduce the ability forthe peripheral 14 to be used by a thief, a master phone 12 isdesignated. The peripheral 14 can thereafter only be used by asmartphone 12 that is given permission by the master phone 12. This canbe done, in the example of an iPhone, by turning on Bluetooth in thesetting of the iPhone 12. In the example an Android phone, the app 21can be started. The peripheral device 14 can be turned on using a switchon the peripheral 14 or by using unit 15. On the iPhone, a Bluetoothpairing request will appear, and the user can complete the pair request.Using an Android device, the pairing can be completed by the app 21. Onthe iPhone, the app 21 can then be started. Video can then appear onscreen. In the app 21, the user provides the input required for thecommands to be stored in memory 24. For example, the user provides theunlock code, and this code is send to peripheral 14 to be stored inmemory 24. The peripheral 14 is configured to recognize the Bluetooth ID(an equivalent of a MAC address unique to the device) of the phone beingfirst paired and to refuse pairing with another smartphone 12 unlessgiven permission from the first paired smartphone 12. Peripheral 14stored the Bluetooth ID of the first or master smartphone 12 innon-volatile memory, along with the ID's of all authorized smartphones12. If the master smartphone is lost, a number of factory set backupsingle-use master codes are also stored. The owner of the peripheral 14can contact the manufacturer with the peripheral's serial number toretrieve a backup code that, when sent to the peripheral from app 21,will cause the peripheral 14 to replace the previous master smartphoneBluetooth ID with the new one. The manufacturer can identify theregistered owner of the peripheral by the serial number and/or theowner's identification. Once a one-time back up code is used, the usedstatus is recorded in the nonvolatile memory and is no longer useable.

Stopping the Peripheral

Stopping of the camera and app can be done either in response to a timeror in response to a subsequent user input, either from the unit 15 or onthe smartphone app 21. For example, the video can stop after a shortperiod, such as 20 seconds, using a timer, or the video can be stoppedwhen the button of unit 15 is pressed and video is being streamed.Peripheral 14 would shut down all components except for the module 16 b,so that the Bluetooth connection is maintained between the peripheraland the activation unit. The peripheral can also send a command to theapp 21 that streaming will stop, so that the app can manage the end ofstreaming without an error. Alternatively, the app 21 can be used tosend a stop signal to the peripheral 14.

In some embodiments, app 21 may also be communicating with the GPSapplication of the smartphone 12. App 21 may use the GPS data of the GPSapplication to detect the speed of the vehicle. Once the speed of thevehicle is detected by the GPS application as being, for instance, overa certain amount (i.e. indicating that the vehicle may no longer backingup), the GPS data, analyzed by app 21, may cause app 21 to shut off, andmay cause the smartphone 12 to send a wireless signal to the peripheral14 to stop streaming.

For security reasons, the HID keyboard interface is started again at theperipheral 14, and a lock key command is sent to lock the phone 12. Thenthe HID keyboard interface is stopped and the peripheral 14 sleeps withthe exception of its Bluetooth interface 16 b.

The steps involved in activating the peripheral 14 and the smartphone 12to operate are illustrated in FIG. 6.

In the embodiment of FIG. 7 where the sleep mode is not managed byinterface 16 b, the peripheral 14 can follow the above sequence forsending the commands to wake up the phone 12 and to cause the app 21 toopen up, however, the commands and/or signals related to waking up andsleeping the peripheral 14 are not required.

The embodiment of FIG. 7 has the advantage over prior art systems thatthe smartphone 12 can be off and locked, and then the peripheral 14 cancause the smartphone 12 to be unlocked and to open up the app 21associated with the rear view camera peripheral 14 without the userneeding to manipulate the phone 12.

In FIG. 9, the peripheral 14 can be woken up using the activation unit15 directly using Bluetooth communication from interface 16 c, or it canbe woken up by the app 21 a (through interface 16 a) that is called upby activation unit 15 in the manner described above.

As illustrated, the keypad 27 can have four buttons (any number can beprovided as desired), with buttons labeled for specific apps, such asthe rear view camera, GPS navigator app, mail app, a “phone home” buttonthat launches the telephone to call a specific number, etc.Configuration of the commands can be done in module 22 whether in astand-alone app or as part of the peripheral app 21 a.

In the embodiment of FIG. 10, a battery-powered rear view cameraperipheral 14 with battery 75 is coupled with an activation unit 15,while the peripheral 14 is coupled with a dedicated GPS navigator unitassociated with the vehicle. As in embodiments above, the activationunit 15 can be coupled with the peripheral's Bluetooth interface 16 b tocause it to wake up (as illustrated) (or, in some examples, theactivation unit 15 may use its RF transmitter to send a radio frequencyactivation signal to the RF module of the peripheral 14), or it can becoupled with the interface 16 a of the display unit 12′ which in turnwill send the peripheral 14 a wake up command over interface 16 b. Whena GPS unit is equipped with Bluetooth communications abilities 16 a,this embodiment requires additional software to provide the codec 32,the view display and the mode switching between regular navigation modeand camera display mode, but no additional hardware to provide the rearview camera capability. The activation unit 15 of FIG. 10 may store asequence of keyboard commands in memory 24, where consumer control keytransmission module 26 retrieves the sequence of keyboard commands andsends it to display unit 12 (when, e.g., display unit 12 is a iOS basedsmartphone). The sequence of keyboard commands may cause the displayunit 12 to unlock and run the viewing application program 21 a.

Likewise, the embodiment of FIG. 10 could exclude the activator 15 as aseparate component, and allow controller 25 through user input to causeinterface 16 a to send a wake-up signal to interface 16 b of theperipheral 14.

In the embodiment of FIG. 11, the smartphone 12 is coupled with theperipheral 14 using interfaces 16 a and 16 b, without involving wirelesskeyboard commands to control the smartphone 12 to unlock and open up theapp 21. In this embodiment, the user unlocks the phone 12 and opens upthe app 21. The app 21 then sends the commands to the peripheral 14 thatcause it to wake up and to begin sending video.

Frame of Peripheral

FIG. 12 shows a frame 40 of a peripheral 14. The frame 40 has a surfacefor receiving a license plate 46 and includes holes 42 for mounting theplate 46 to the frame 40 using mounting bolts 44. It will be appreciatedthat any suitable mounting mechanism, whether clips, bolts, transparentretainer cover, or the like can be used. In the embodiment of FIG. 12,the camera 28 is mounted in a fixed position, namely in the top leftcorner using a mounting 48. The camera 28 can be arranged to be locatedin a variable position or in a different fixed position. In theembodiment of FIG. 12, the mounting 48 has a slot into which the plate46 fits so that the camera 28 fits within the boundaries of the frame 40of a standard license plate 46. While the plate 46 shown has thedimensions of a North American license plate, it will be appreciatedthat the frame 40 can be adapted for the plate dimensions of anyjurisdiction or vehicle type. Frame 40 can be relatively thin, and theembodiment of FIG. 12 is about 1 cm at the top and expands to about 2 cmat the bottom to have a trapezoidal shape and better accommodate thebattery, however, different shapes of battery can fit within arectangular frame as well.

The vehicle side of the frame 40 is shown in FIG. 13 with the componentsremoved for clarity. The frame 40 is upside down in the view, and themounting holes 42 are at the bottom. The battery compartment 50 and thecircuit board compartment 52 are shown, along with an inner side of themounting 48. Cut outs 54 near the mounting holes 42 are used forreceiving a bracket 56. While a frame 40 can be mounted to the vehicleusing the vehicle's mounting nuts for receiving bolts 44 that are a bitlonger than usual (by the added thickness of the frame 40), Applicanthas found that some vehicles have a plate mounting area that hasobstructions, such as trunk handles, spare tires or lights, and anadjustment in height is useful. Furthermore, it is convenient, althoughoptional, to use the vehicle's original mounting bolts to mount theframe to the vehicle and to use separate bolts to mount the plate to theframe 40. Therefore, bracket 56 is an example of a mechanism that allowsa vertical adjustment in position for frame 40. The vehicle's originalplate mounting bolts can be affixed through hole 58 with the nut 57positioned either above or below for a higher or a lower positionrespectively. The bracket is then clamped to the vehicle and the nut 57is ready to receive bolt 44 through hole 42. Slots 54 prevents thebrackets 56 from turning out of position should the bolts attached tothe vehicle become loose. This arrangement has been found to avoidconflicts with the car body components in most cases.

As shown in FIG. 14, the peripheral 14 can comprise a camera 28 held bya bracket 62 that allows for an adjustment of the camera tilt. Asillustrated, this can be provided by making screws 63 accessible fromthe vehicle side of the frame 40 where they can be loosened to allow thecamera 28 to be adjusted, and then the screws 63 are tightened so thatthe camera 28 is fixed in its tilt position. The camera 28 is mounted inthe mounting 48 with the circular side members rotatable in sleeves inthe mounting 48 and the bracket 62 can have teeth engaging complementaryteeth in the side members of the housing of the camera 28 to ensurethere is no slippage of the camera in its mounting. Other suitablemechanisms to set the tilt angle are possible, and the example given isbut one way of securely setting a tilt angle.

The camera 28 is connected to a circuit board 64 that contains thehardware and software components of the peripheral 14, and is to bereceived in compartment 52 (FIG. 13) and sealed using cover 65 andgasket 66. Protection against the weather and road contamination isimportant. A battery 68 is connected to the circuit board 64 for power,and is to be received in compartment 50 and sealed using cover 69 andgasket 70. The battery 68 can provide a service life of about two years.A smaller rechargeable or replaceable battery can also be used.

While the embodiment of FIG. 12 is a frame 40 that essentially matchesthe dimensions of the license plate 46 with only the camera mount 48overhanging the plate area, it can be desirable to have either anenlarged frame 40 with a border region along at least one side (forexample the two vertical sides) to as to accommodate one or morephotovoltaic strips that can be used to recharge the battery 68 usingsunlight. Alternatively, solar panel strips can be arranged within theplate area thus covering a border region of the license plate 46.

While reference is made herein to a rear-view camera system, it will beappreciated that a vehicle camera can be installed at the sides or frontof a vehicle. For example, a school bus can use the license plate mountat the front of the bus to monitor an area at the front of the buswithout modifying the camera housing. Triggering of the camera operationcould be then done from other signal sources, such as the bus stoplights. For side mountings of a camera, a different housing would beused.

FIG. 15 shows a view of a stick-on activation unit 15 that includes asingle ON button 27 and a single OFF button 27′. Unit 15 can be poweredusing a standard button battery (e.g. a Lithium CR2032 type battery) oralternatively, it can be powered from the vehicle (or any other externalpower) using wire port 25. Unit 15 may include the Bluetooth transceiverchip or another wireless transmitter. For instance, activation unit 15may have a radio frequency module for transmitting RF activation signalsto the peripheral 14. In the example where the unit 15 has a Bluetoothtransceiver, the Bluetooth transceiver is paired with the peripheral 14and maintains a low power connection at all times. When the button 27 ofunit 15 is pressed, a signal is sent to the peripheral 14 that causesits Bluetooth component 16 b to cause the peripheral to wake up and tocommunicate with the smartphone 12 or the dedicated GPS unit (or anyother main computing device) 12′. When the activation signal is an RFsignal, pressing the button 27 causes the RF module of unit 15 to sendan RF activation signal to the peripheral 14 that is received by the RFmodule (e.g. RF receiver chip) of the peripheral 14, causing theperipheral 14 to wake up. The unit 15 and the peripheral 14 can remainin this sleep mode with Bluetooth communication established for yearswithout recharging or changing batteries. In the case of button 27′, thesignal sent to the peripheral indicates that the peripheral 14 is toshut down.

While in the embodiment described above, the peripheral is a rear viewcamera peripheral, it will be appreciated that other types ofperipherals can make use of the features described herein (e.g. a frontview camera).

1-10. (canceled)
 11. A vehicle camera peripheral system configured toconnect with a display device to display on said display device imagesreceived from said vehicle camera peripheral system, comprising: aperipheral unit comprising: a camera for producing a stream of images; aperipheral unit interface configured to establish a wireless connectionwith said display device, and to transmit said stream of images producedby said camera to said display device via said wireless connection oncesaid peripheral unit is activated; and a mounting for securing saidperipheral unit to a vehicle; and a gear shift signaling device fordetecting the shifting of a gear stick of a vehicle from a firstposition to a second position, said gear shift signaling devicecomprising: a property change generator that is adapted to produce aproperty change when said gear stick is shifted to said second position;and a detector configured to detect said property change; wherein saidgear shift signaling device transmits a signal to one of said peripheralunit and said display device, upon said detector detecting said propertychange, that causes said stream of images to be transmitted from saidperipheral unit interface to said display device.
 12. The cameraperipheral system of claim 11, wherein said peripheral unit furthercomprises a battery for powering said camera when said peripheral unitis activated. 13-23. (canceled)
 24. The camera peripheral system ofclaim 11, wherein said peripheral unit interface is a Bluetoothinterface. 25-26. (canceled)
 27. The camera peripheral system of claim11, comprising a rear license plate mounting, wherein said camera is arear-view camera.
 28. (canceled)
 29. The camera peripheral system ofclaim 11, wherein said property change generator comprises a magnet anda magnetic strip, and said detector is a magnetic field sensor adaptedto detect a change in a magnetic field caused by said magnet and saidmagnetic strip when said magnet and said magnetic strip are placed inproximity as a result of said gear stick shifting to said secondposition.
 30. The camera peripheral system of claim 11, wherein saidproperty change generator comprises a reflective surface and a lightsource, and said detector is a light sensor adapted to detect lightproduced by said light source, reflected off said reflective surface,when said reflective surface and said light source are placed inproximity so that light produced by said light source may reflect offsaid reflective surface as a result of a said gear stick shifting tosaid second position.
 31. (canceled)
 32. A vehicle camera peripheralcomprising: a frame having a surface for supporting a license plate; atleast one compartment for containing a battery and a circuit boardhaving a wireless transmitter and video transmission circuitry, whereinat least one of said at least one compartment provided in said frame andpositioned behind said license plate supporting surface; a cameramounted to said frame and connected to said circuit board; and amounting for connecting said frame to existing license plate fasteningdevices of a vehicle, wherein said wireless transmitter is configured totransmit wirelessly to a display device a stream of image data producedby said camera.
 33. The vehicle camera peripheral as defined in claim32, wherein said mounting is adjustable for connecting said frame at aselected one of a plurality of vertical offset positions. 34-36.(canceled)
 37. The camera peripheral system of claim 11, wherein saidsecond position corresponds to said gear stick being placed in a reverseposition.
 38. A vehicle camera peripheral comprising: a frame having asurface for supporting a license plate; at least one compartment forcontaining a battery and a circuit board having a wireless transmitterand video transmission circuitry; a camera mounted to said frame andconnected to said circuit board; and a mounting for connecting saidframe to existing license plate fastening devices of a vehicle, whereinsaid mounting is adjustable for connecting said frame at a selected oneof a plurality of vertical offset positions, wherein said wirelesstransmitter is configured to transmit wirelessly to a display device astream of image data produced by said camera.
 39. A vehicle cameraperipheral system configured to connect with a handheld device todisplay on said display device, by running a camera viewing applicationprogram on said handheld device, images received form said vehiclecamera peripheral system, comprising: a peripheral unit comprising: acamera for producing a stream of images; a peripheral unit interfaceconfigured to establish a first wireless connection with said displaydevice, and to transmit said stream of images produced by said camera tosaid display device via said first wireless connection once saidperipheral unit is activated; and a mounting for securing saidperipheral unit to a vehicle; and an activation unit configured totransmit, upon receiving specific external input, an activation signalto at least one of said peripheral unit and said display device forcausing said peripheral unit to transmit said stream of images to saiddisplay device; wherein said peripheral unit is activated upon receivingone of: said activation signal from said activation unit; and anactivation signal from said display device.
 40. The camera peripheralsystem of claim 39, wherein said activation unit is configured toreceive as said specific external input a power signal taken from aback-up lamp of a vehicle when said back-up lamp is turned on.
 41. Thecamera peripheral system of claim 39, wherein said activation unit has abutton and is configured to receive the pressing of said button as saidspecific external input.
 42. The camera peripheral system of claim 39,wherein said peripheral unit interface is a Bluetooth interface.
 43. Thecamera peripheral system of claim 39, comprising a rear license platemounting, wherein said camera is a rear-view camera.
 44. The cameraperipheral system of claim 39, wherein said activation unit furthercomprises a gear shift signaling device for detecting the shifting of agear stick of a vehicle from a first position to a second position, saidgear shift signaling device comprising: a property change generator thatis adapted to produce a property change when said gear stick is shiftedto said second position; and a detector configured to detect saidproperty change; wherein said activation unit receives as said specificexternal input an indication of said property change from said gearshift signaling device.
 45. The camera peripheral system of claim 44,wherein said property change generator comprises a magnet and a magneticstrip, and said detector is a magnetic field sensor adapted to detect achange in a magnetic field caused by said magnet and said magnetic stripwhen said magnet and said magnetic strip are placed in proximity as aresult of said gear stick shifting to said second position.
 46. Thecamera peripheral system of claim 44, wherein said property changegenerator comprises a reflective surface and a light source, and saiddetector is a light sensor adapted to detect light produced by saidlight source, reflected off said reflective surface, when saidreflective surface and said light source are placed in proximity so thatlight produced by said light source may reflect off said reflectivesurface as a result of a said gear stick shifting to said secondposition.